The Front (1976) DVD9, Blu-Ray

In the 1950's the Senator Joseph McCarthy started a witch hunt for communists in the government and other areas of American life to advance his political career. Soon the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was looking into the possibility that communists in the film and television industry were using the media as a propaganda tool for their Russian masters. People who were suspected of having ties with communist groups or having communists sympathies were black listed and could no longer find work. The Front is a fictionalized account of life in the television industry in during that time.

Howard Prince (Woody Allen) is a small time bookie and a cashier at a small diner. He's always in debt and can never seem to get a break. One day an old friend, Alfred Miller (Michael Murphy), comes by to see him. Alfred is a writer for network TV, but he can't get a job because of his communist sympathies. He asks Howard to front for him. Howard will sell the scripts as his own, and give the money to Alfred, minus a 10% fee for his trouble. This arrangement works out well. Alfred is able to make a living, and Howard is getting a little extra money.

Howard manages to maintain the illusion for quite some time, but things get complicated when the government begins suspecting him of having Communist sympathies. Meanwhile, beloved comedian Hecky Brown (Zero Mostel) finds himself forced to spy on Howard for the sake of getting his own name off the blacklist. Will the mounting pressure force Howard and his associates to crack?